


Take Me Back To The Night We Met

by uhmelle



Category: Professional Wrestling, 新日本プロレス | New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 00:38:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11543784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uhmelle/pseuds/uhmelle
Summary: "When you had not touched me yet, Oh, take me back to the night we met"





	Take Me Back To The Night We Met

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Lord Huron's album Strange Trails.

“ _Tyson.” He offered his hand._

_Hers was soft in return. The first touch, he would recall, sending something like warm waves through his nerves. “Y/N.”_

“ _Kenny!”_

_The voice was unfamiliar but he waved to them anyways. She quirked an eyebrow. “Kenny?”_

“ _People call me that, too.”_

“ _So do I call you Kenny or Tyson?”_

_A second passed while he thought about it, his eyes moving between hers. “I like the way you say Tyson.”_

_He’d kept her close all night, some need just to be around her. Seeking her out after his match and asking if she was free for dinner, talking about video games as they ate at a near abandoned restaurant at midnight._

_She had been the one to take his hand as he walked her to the train and left him with her number in his phone. The latter of which he called half an hour later to make sure she had gotten to her friend’s place alright._

_Going on 30 years old and his stomach still did cartwheels. The idea that maybe he should have just texted only egged that on but she answered before he had a chance to rethink “Tyson?”_

_He smiled into the phone. “Just wanted to make sure you got home safe.”_

_“Here I was thinking you wanted to hear me say your name again.”_

_At least she couldn’t see his cheeks turn red. “I’m sorry, did I bruise your ego?”_

_“You did actually. I’m very offended.” She deadpanned._

_“A little of both then?”_

_“Now that’s more like it.” He heard rustling in the background for a moment then silence. But when he opened his mouth she finally spoke up, “So, about our date.”_

_“You mean tonight?”_

_“No, silly, the one I’m about to ask you on.”_

Sixteen hours of travel. Eleven of those on a plane. Kenny’s neck cracked as he stood up from his seat, 20 years of suicide dives and suplexes sounding through the airport lounge.

Everything kept coming down to numbers. Years, miles, dollars, days on the calendar. Two years. One day. Five years.

He was home, finally. No Japan in his future, nothing for the immediate future in regards to his career. A road he probably should have seen a few years ago. But things happen, plans change. Plans for him to stay in Japan when he’d been almost dead set on finishing out at his peak. Lots of plans changed.

Transcona bound, he tried like hell to forget what day it was.

The thing to know about Tyson Smith aka Kenny Omega, 38-year-old professional wrestler, and the newest acquisition for WWE (debut TBD): he doesn’t dwell. Didn’t. Doesn’t. Whatever. The darker side of his emotions were always merely an obstacle. A problem you work through.

You lose touch with a friend, feel whimsical now and again, but you never let that stand in your way. The same way you lose a push or break a bone, you prove yourself, you heal. But he hadn’t counted on being upended so late in the game.

It’d been two years since he’d seen her.

“ _There’s always going to be something. You’re never going to be satisfied.”_

_She sat on the edge of the bed, crosslegged as if they were having a casual conversation. He was beside her, staring at the floor._

“ _You know that’s not true. My goals just shift. It’s not going to be forever.“ His brain told him to reason while his heart told him to shut the fuck up. He saw the situation clear as day, he simply had no answer for it but his career._

“ _I’ve supported you in every thing you’ve done and wanted to do. Every shift. There’s always going to be some goal and it’s always going to be the epicenter of your life.”_

“ _Y/N,”_

“ _You signed for another year without even telling me, fuck talking to me!“ Raw and hurt, she shook her head. He could see she’d been holding onto composer by a thread since it had all started “You want love but nothing will ever be enough. Not the fans, the accolades, the titles, certainly not me.”_

_Her last words were cold, catching on his heart as it nearly jumped out of his throat. “Bullshit. You’ve been the only thing in my heart since the day I met you. Five years you’ve been the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing before I go to bed.”_

“ _There are a few hours in between those, Tyson, and I exist in them. I don’t doubt you love me, but you can’t have both. Can’t do both, you said it yourself. And I’m not going to be one of those-I’m not making you choose. You’ve come too far and done too much. I’m making this decision for myself.”_

_Tears welled in his eyes, feeling miserable and manipulative at the same time. He wiped them away. In a drawer in the next room of his small Tokyo apartment, inside of a small box, sat a ring. Worthless now and it was all he could think about._

“ _What do you want me to do? I’ll do it.”_

“ _Just be happy. Long live Kenny Omega.”_

_The acids in his stomach churned at her tone, not biting or hurtful, only resigned. He swallowed against his dry throat._

_She would kiss his head before she left, promising to be out of the apartment by the time he got back to Canada, and as she walked away he grabbed her hand. The left, with the specific finger he could have adorned, had anything been different. But he said nothing, and let it slip out of his grasp as she walked towards the door._

The first day, he collected his pets from their temporary stay at his parents’ house. His mother corralled him into staying for dinner, his sister and her husband joining them with their two year old. All of them glancing occasionally with sad eyes even though he smiled and joked.

It was their anniversary, would have been their anniversary, were there a relationship to be had. The better part of a decade, maybe a wedding behind them and a pregnancy to come. Despite his faults, he missed dreaming about those things. So solid in his future until they weren’t. Too many futures he had his eye on to realize.

These are the things he’d thrown himself into his career to forget. It had kept him occupied and given some of the best matches, promos, and accomplishments he maybe never would have had otherwise. The trade off, harsh on his eventual life span he was sure, had been fruitful. At least.

He made a point to rarely be home. Still, every time the bareness of the place never failed to throw him off. The animals settled into their places, he did busy work, laundry, a list of things he needed to buy (everything, a kitchen table, socks). He showered and changed, ripped the sheets from the bed and replaced them with fresh ones. Anything to keep his mind focused.

Video games finished out his night. His escape and his destressor. Friends since his childhood, there wasn’t much a good game couldn’t distract him from for a little while.

But when the birds started outside, and he begrudgingly turned off the system and made his way to bed, there was nothing. Only him and the inky blue hue penetrating the blinds. He closed the curtains, freed himself of his t-shirt, and got between the sheets.

Sleep would come, eventually.

“ _Just leave it, babe.”_

_He ran a hand through his freshly dried curls as he came out of the bathroom. Just a few hours before they had finally finished moving their things into the new house. He’d simply been happy to get the hardest part done, but she was frazzled, insisting it was only beginning._

_Sure, their house was a maze of boxes and oddly placed furniture, the animals yet to make their appearance, but it was their home none the less. Decorations and careful space management wouldn’t be thing that dictated that. They had all the time in the world._

_Still, she sat in her t-shirt and underwear, folding clothes and putting them neatly into drawers. Not exactly a slob himself, she still out did anyone he knew in organization. He admired it but he also just wanted to sleep._

“ _I can’t sleep if everything is everywhere,” she sighed and flattened the emptied box, setting it aside as she stood up._

_He seized the opportunity to gather her close, chest against her back and arms snaked around her waist. “I can think of one way to help you sleep.”_

_She giggled and pushed away where he nipped at her neck, turning in his arms. His hair was the first thing her eyes caught. “Oh my.”_

_It has gone through several changes since they’d met, the most recent being the most drastic. His soft, wheat blonde replaced with a dark and silver look for his new persona. Quietly, she’d mourned the loss of her beloved color. But it was longer, more luxurious when he maintained it, and she loved combing her fingers through it even more._

“ _You look like a lion with this mane,” she teased lovingly. The playful hands in his hair sending a shiver across his scalp._

“ _Your lion, in our home, with all our crap strewn around that’ll still be there in the morning, ” he assured her, wrapping his arms around her once more. “Don’t make me drag you.”_

“ _Well maybe not drag.” She emphasized her last word with linking her arms around his neck, bringing her leg up to his waist._

_He smirked at her and brought her up into his hold with ease to make the few feet trip to the bed. “Ya know, this is probably frowned upon by the company. Could get myself hurt.”_

_A laugh as he laid her down onto the bed, hovering over her. “I guess sex is off the table forever then.”_

“ _Never mind, I quit.”_

In the wee hours of twilight, the feel of her became almost tangible. Every feeling present except for her touch. The bed that had held so many of their trysts curved softly underneath him, cradling his hips on the back swing of every thrust into his own hand.

He was alive there behind his eyes. A whimper escaping him as she gasped, her warmth accepting and engulfing him. She pressed small kisses to his lips, his face, his shoulders, love in every one of them.

The work of his hand sped up. His tongue wet his lips, teeth worried his bottom lip against the waves of pleasure. Desperation creeped in, hyper aware of the tightening in his groin and the burning behind his eyes.

The memory continued, finishing the same time he did, messing the brand new sheets inadvertently. Being the only judge, jury, and executioner present, he left it until the morning and fell asleep with a little effort.

Morning really being afternoon. Rio nuzzling his cheek for her much needed walk as his alarm. He obliged her, a short walk to the wooded area of their neighborhood and back. The chilly spring air did him well, waking up his lungs if nothing else.

Half the day gone, he tried to go about it as normal. Normal however he deemed it so; on top of everything else his life had been filled with only sporadic days off, and certainly no time to do things like shop for essentials. The mundane horror only dawned on him as he filled his shopping cart with dish soap and toilet paper.

She had been the one to make these things fun, his anchor back to real life. The juxtaposition wasn’t as jarring when there was a landing pad. Living in hotels and on airplanes, exhausted but always seeking the adrenaline given out like candy by the excited crowds, always having to be ‘Kenny Omega’, it was a circus compared to sleeping in your own bed and paying the electric bill. Love being the only safety net for when he toppled from the tightrope.

He left the bags in the trunk and headed for the gym. _Kenny Omega_ still required his attention. The life would start up again, albeit in a different country. Eventually he’d remember himself into a sad old man, but not for a bit longer. The music blared into his ears and his mind was blissfully clear for a little while.

##                                    **…**

“What is it, baby girl?”

Rio nosed at his hand, soft eyes urging him on. His headset had blocked out any noise from the house, and he took them off to attend to his whining pup. He scratched under her chin lovingly, only then hearing the knock at the door.

“Someone here, huh? Good girl.” He smiled at her and made his way to the door, her trotting behind him.

He put himself between his protective companion and the outside world and opened the door.

“Hey Tyson.”

There she was, at his front door, hair a little shorter, but still every ability to stutter his heart.

“Hi.” His thoughts had screeched to a halt.

“I still talk to your mom.” She shuffled her feet a second. “She told me you were home. Just thought I’d…come by, see how you are.”

Words would have been helpful. Instead he stared as if he’d seen a ghost, the thud of his heart almost audible in his ears. Everything his brain was telling him to do seemed wrong, so he did nothing.

She only took it as a bad sign and he couldn’t blame her. “I’m sorry, I overstepped. I should’ve just called, or texted. I’ll just,”

The sight of her turning to leave seemed to shock him back to life. “No no, I’m sorry. You’re fine, I just…we haven’t seen each other in a long time, haven’t talked in almost the same.”

“Yeah, which is why this was a really dumb idea,“ she said.

“No dumb ideas, (Y/N).”

A familiar reassurance from their awkward early days and the shared smile that followed filled with warmth.

“You don’t have to invite me in. God knows you’re not obligated.”

He opened the door and stepped to the side. She smiled, the way she always did when she was nervous, and accepted his offer. He closed the door and watched her toe off her shoes on the mat, unsure of himself as the familiar sight elicited the memories of this a million times before. Rio, on the other hand, had no such qualms, immediately giving her excited little jumps and rubbing against her legs.

He’d only spent two nights in the house the week they bought it and when he came back she’d made it a comfortable home. It was hers more than it ever was his, but at least it had been theirs. The thought of selling it had occurred to him, but eventually he just gave up on the idea.

Other ideas were pushed to the side as she turned to him. “I love what you’ve done with the place.” Sarcasm on her lips.

“You know me, interior decorator of the year in my free time.”

She laughed. “Well you will nevah altar drapes on Atlanta again.” Her accent molded into an Southern American drawl.

Not entirely getting the reference, but knowing her enough to parse that it was one, he simply laughed. She wandered through the hall into the living room and he followed.

The knot in his stomach hadn’t loosened at all. Muscle memory mapped out the way he would pull her close to him, take her lips in the way his ached to, not leave a piece of skin untouched by morning. Heat would rush to the places her fingers found purchase on him, his scalp, his neck, his ass. He’d never been able to do anything but melt as she explored him.

And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

“You want anything from the kitchen?” he asked as she sat on the couch.

She shook her head. “Thank you, though.”

The air was awkward in ways he didn’t want it to be. It carried him to the chair on the opposite side facing the couch, rubbed his palms on his sweatpants. Her eyes took in the room piece by piece until they fell onto his uncomfortable form. It was inescapable.

“So, when do you start?”

The news hadn’t been made official yet, but it was obvious to anyone that by not resigning with New Japan he was doing one of two things: hanging up his tights for good or debuting on TV sometime in the future. She knew him too well.

“Probably next month.”

“Finally took the plunge.” She shook her head and laughed. “I remember you talking about it, all the time—”

Trailing off, she only smiled at him. With the same memories that accompanied him in his last few sleepless nights, he hoped. They had talked a lot about future plans, the tentative route of his remaining years, jokes about the ridiculous things they could name their kids. It hadn’t seemed that far away at the time.

“You did some amazing things in Japan, though. I kinda kept tabs, I’m really proud of you.”

Though it shouldn’t have surprised him, she’d always been his biggest support, he still felt a little warm at the way her face went soft. Affection even that long later. But the hadn’t been lack of love that broke them apart.

They talked none the less, falling back into old rhythms of communication. The boring bits, the life events that hadn’t been made known by Kenny’s well meaning mother, tip toeing around the question of significant others. Which did eventually come around, answered with a no from both parties.

He’d missed her presence more than anything.

"I didn’t realize how much we had to catch up on,” he sighed. “We should’ve stayed friends, at least.”

She laughed. “I don’t know about that.”

“What?” he questioned, a sudden cold washing over him.

“I just, we couldn’t really, Tyson.”

Disbelief spread across his face, enough that she edged forward in her seat. The comfort retreated. “Emotions are insidious and messy and-”

“Your feelings for me were _insidious_?”

“You know what I mean.” She sighed, frustration in her tone.

“No I really don’t.”

“We were never going to be able to be just friends!”

Kenny deflated, more wounded than he thought he’d be. "Then why the fuck are you even here?”

“You know what, that’s a great question, because you’re still acting like the fucking victim here. When you have no idea.” She spat at him, stand up as she gathered herself together.

Kenny could only chuckle. “I have no idea. _I_ have no idea? Because I haven’t been in pain for two years? Because I didn’t lose the love of my life–“ he stood up, jabbing his finger at his chest–“the woman I was going to ask to marry me? No,you’re right, it’s been fucking roses.”

“I would’ve said yes, I would have stuck by you no matter what. But the guy laying in bed talking about our future wasn’t the guy calling the shots. You did this Tyson, and I know that you’re still hurting, but I feel nothing.” She finished, letting her shoulders fall.

The moment stretched out, their words hanging in the air like wilted linen. She looked as if she expected a reply and he held nothing in the way of one. Anger had been sapped from him as quickly as it rose, leaving him tired to the bone.

Eventually, she turned and headed into the hall. With nothing to fix, no victory to be had, his legs still prompted him to follow. He expected the resigned look that greeted him around the corner.

Still, he asked, “Do you remember the night we met?”

She sighed, slipping on her shoes. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Do you remember?”

“Of course,” she answered quietly.

He shrunk the space between them, their chests brushing. “You held my hand when I walked you to the train, and I knew there was no going back for me.”

Her eyes flicked between his, holding a sadness, or maybe pity. It didn’t matter at this point. He was looking at her face for the last time as she brought her hand up to cup his face.

“I’m sorry that everything can’t be what you imagined it, Lion.”

She pressed her lips to his cheek for a brief moment, one he would feel for the rest of his life.


End file.
